"What happened to Tyre Nichols is not an exception, it's the rule. And it happens every single day in this country. This is what American policing looks like," said Cat Brooks, executive director of the Anti-Police Terror Project, which organized the event. "And if you really believe that we are the land of the freedom, home of the brave, and democracy and all that, it is time to finally admit that the way we do 'public safety' in this country is not working."
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Protests across US after Tyre Nichols video release
People from around the Bay Area joined in.
"Obviously we are here to collectively grieve Tyre Nichols' brutal murder. And to stand in solidarity with the Memphis community," said Brianna Vieira, who lives in San Jose.
"This is about a system of justice and whether sufficient protections are in place to ensure equal justice for all Americans," said Charles Jung, a San Francisco resident.
Uncle Bobby X also spoke at the rally. He is the uncle of Oscar Grant, the young man who was killed by BART police in 2009.
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Protests across US after Tyre Nichols video release
"Tyre has brought us here. Let us not just stop here! Let us take it across the country!" he said.
According to data by the Anti-Police Terror Project in Oakland, black motorists are eight times more likely than their white counterparts to be pulled over by law enforcement.
"All cops are blue. The time you put on the badge, gun and uniform, you ain't black no more. You are an agent of the state," said Brooks. "So, we are also here to say take cops out of the traffic stops! You do not have to need a badge and a gun to give somebody a speeding ticket."
Several Bay Area police departments, from San Francisco to Oakland to San Jose, issued statements condemning Nichols' death.
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Tyre Nichols' family reacts to public police video release
Many of those who marched don't think the race of the officers is the issue at hand.
"It is not just white police officers, it's black police officers. That is a problem. It is the system," said one of the protestors who went by "G."
"I feel like it doesn't matter (if) it was white police officers or black police officers. It is the people in power hurting people without power," said Haider Abbas, a San Francisco resident.
Despite some reports of graffiti, the protest remained peaceful with no reports of arrests.